Valhalla, the dining room of the Grand Duchess.

"I need an explanation - about today's farce. ”

Thelma stared at the two men in front of her with an ugly face: one with a calm expression, the other with a smiling face.

"Or you can get out of Valhalla right now and settle your own room and board—you two. ”

The Grand Duke said coldly.

"Wow," Ian Ronnie, the heir to the Grand Duke of Qiyuan City, reclined on the backrest in the most comfortable position, looked at the angry Grand Duke with some interest, and turned his head to ask the groaning Tails, "This is what you told me 'she is a good talker'?"

Tails took a deep breath.

Well, maybe it's because, that's coming.

But before he could speak, Selma's anger suddenly rose.

"You, honorable Lord Ian Ronnie," said the Grand Duchess coldly, "I remember you came to ask for help?"

"Uh-huh. Ian nodded briskly.

"Just by virtue of your contempt, pompousness, contrivedness, and rudeness?" Selma showed no mercy: "And the rare talent that humiliated and provoked the entire Longxiao City when they first met?"

"Also, tonight's welcome banquet has been cancelled—for no one will be present at all, unless I agree to their request for a duel against you at the banquet. ”

"They're still quite enthusiastic, look, fortunately I brought Monty," the frivolous Viscount smiled and snapped his fingers in the face of the archduchess who asked the guilty teacher, "The problem is solved." ”

Looking at the other party's provocative attitude, Selma's face became even more ugly.

Do you know how ugly the scene was after you were gone, and how many nobles expressed their indignation to me?"

Tails swore that, with his keen hearing, he heard the grinding of teeth behind the Grand Duke's lips: "You must be glad they laid down their weapons before entering the palace." ”

"Ah," Ian shrugged at Tails with a nonchalant look, "Hypocritical old-fashioned Northlanders." ”

"With this kind of energy, why don't you go to the Black Sand Collar and kill the king?"

Thelma was so angry that she took a breath and glared at Ian, who didn't care.

"Oh, you also know that the envoys of the Black Sand Lords are in the city, and everything that happened today, they will know about it, and pass it back to Black Sand City and pass it on to the king?"

"And do you know how many of the vassals in Longxiao City will change their attitude towards Qiyuan City and the Black Sand Collar because of your actions today?"

Hearing Black Sand Collar's name, Ian's pupils froze.

He nodded slowly on the backrest.

"That's a problem. ”

He turned to Tails, his eyes focused, "But we'll fix it, right?"

But Tails was silent, his hands clasped against the table, and his knuckles were pressed from time to time—a habit he had learned from the bald Archduke Leco six years earlier.

Selma seems to have had enough of arguing with the heirs of Qiyuan City.

"Tails, you arranged this meeting," the Grand Duchess propped up her glasses, and glared disapprovingly at Tails, who looked calm and seemed to be contemplative:

"Say something!"

Ian let out a silent weird smile, learning from Thelma's angry expression, deliberately putting on a resentful look, turning his head to Tails and shaking his head and making a silent lip shape: "Say-point-what-".

This caused Thelma's anger to soar to the top:

"If all the people who come to Qiyuan City for help are like you, then you can ...... now"

"Thelma. ”

Tails spoke softly.

He raised his eyes and looked at Miss Selma, who was puffing out her cheeks in anger across the table.

"Calm down, you are a female archduchess, there is no need to get angry easily. ”

Ah, this is the girl who rejected his impulsive offer here the other day, offering to stay in Longxiao City and face all unknowable dangers.

That little slippery head.

He'd miss her.

Tails slowly curled the corners of his mouth, and a smile unconsciously appeared.

Thelma, who was already angry, was a little embarrassed by his staring.

She remembered what Tails had taught her to reduce her irritability, and took a few deep breaths.

"I ...... I think," the girl unconsciously looked away, snorted, and glanced at Ian, who was smiling to himself, but her tone was much softer, "Maybe we shouldn't waste any more time." ”

Ian raised his eyebrows, he looked at Tails with a calm expression, and then at Thelma, who turned his head, with a sudden expression.

He yawned, as if it had taken a lifetime of strength to struggle from the back of his chair, lazily picked up a piece of cheese from the table, and munched to himself, "I knew I had found the right person......

Alerted by Ian's yin and yang weirdness, Tails came back to his senses.

The prince coughed and asked calmly:

"The Count of Lisbane didn't come?"

"Charles said he was going to appease the nobles," Thelma shook her head, still drowning in dissatisfaction, "He also said that he hoped that at the next meeting, you would be able to behave so easily in front of the Counts." ”

Tails' eyes froze.

Ian stopped chewing on the cheese in his mouth.

"...... the next political hearing"

"So he understands," said the prince softly, "worthy of dragon eyes." ”

Thelma looked confused: "What?"

"Maybe Monty told him something," Ian began to chew on the cheese again, but his brow was already furrowed, "That big mouth, on the way, he heard me proposing." ”

Hearing the word "proposal", Thelma exhaled heavily, and her eyes became dangerous again:

"What the hell are you two talking about?"

Tails didn't speak, but his thoughts spun faster and faster.

Only Ian swallowed the cheese in his mouth hard, tilted his head, and smiled disapprovingly, "It seems that you are not as smart as you seem, ma'am." ”

"Sure enough, beauty and wisdom are ...... each other"

Before he finished speaking, he once again provoked the female archduke.

"And you're even more annoying than your nickname. Thelma said coldly.

Ian was slightly stunned at first, then he smiled and shrugged cheekily, "It's an honor." ”

Tails sighed, determined not to be silent any longer.

"Selma," the prince sat upright, looking at the two of them seriously, "This is Ian Ronnie, representing Qiyuan City." ”

Following his gaze, Thelma and Ian glanced at each other, one wary and the other unimpressed.

"And he's here to propose to you. ”

Tails said lightly.

Thelma didn't move.

But in the next second, the female archduke sneered.

"Yes, thank you for the introduction. Thelma looked at Tails with unkind eyes, accusation and anger in her eyes almost overflowing.

She looked at Ian with a scrutinizing gaze, undisguised the disgust in her eyes, and sarcastically said, "At least he's the same age, right?" ”

Tails didn't speak.

It was Ian who answered.

"Behold, she still doesn't understand," the heir of Qiyuan City did not look at the cold-faced archduchess, he smiled contemptuously, shrugged his shoulders and said to Tails:

"My mother used to say that if a woman is in charge, she will ......"

"I don't know what your mother said, Ian. Tails turned his head sharply and interrupted him coldly.

Ian froze slightly, and his raised finger stopped in mid-air.

"To be honest, I don't care," Prince Xingchen's face was serious, "but if you still want to complete this mission, then be respectful - she is the Grand Duchess of Longxiao City, and she is the key to this chess game." ”

He watched Ian slowly retract his playful eyes, and said in a deep voice, "It's also my friend." ”

Ian froze.

"And you, Selma," Tails looked earnestly into the eyes of the Grand Duchess, "believe me, we are on the same side of the board. ”

"This guy is like this, we have to get used to it......"

Thelma snorted, seemingly angry at Ian.

But she didn't speak again.

Ian breathed softly, frowned, and seemed to understand, "Oh. ”

The next moment, Ian leaned back, close to Tails's ear, reached out to block the archduchess's view, and whispered, "What, you haven't tamed her yet?"

This time it was Tails' turn to be stunned.

The grim color on his face had not disappeared, but he asked in surprise, "What?"

Tame?

Ian sighed, with a sigh of regret that iron could not be made of steel.

Selma looked suspicious and looked at the two who were biting their ears without permission.

"You know, you're the one who put her in the seat," Ian suppressed his voice, his tone full of chagrin and dissatisfaction, "And it's been six years, my highness!

Tails blinked, as if he had come to some understanding.

"Men are more or less special about the first woman, but," Ian continued to say bitterly with a bitter face on his face, "Don't let her climb on top of you unless she's in bed......"

Boom!

There was a muffled thud, accompanied by Ian's snort.

The heir of Qiyuan City twisted his face and sat back in his chair with his stomach in his arms, looking pained by betrayal.

After Ian and Tails, Thelma was stunned.

She looked at this and then at that in bewilderment: "You ......"

"He's got a stomach ache, he's okay now," Tails, who didn't change his face, withdrew his elbow and didn't look at Ian, who was pale and broke out in a cold sweat, "Let's get back to business." ”

"Thelma," said the prince, taking a deep breath, leaning close to the table, earnestly, "you must know that it is a marriage proposal—but in the first place, it is impossible for him to make a successful proposal. ”

Thelma's eyes moved.

"There is only one direct ruler left in Longxiao City, and in the absence of external force or pressure," Tails's palm strained slightly, shaking off the proposal that Nunn had given him in his mind: "Inside and outside, in reason, it is impossible for you to marry an outsider with considerable power." ”

"For the vassals of Longxiao City, this is tantamount to attracting terrible foreign enemies out of thin air and taking power from them, and for the Grand Duke of Exeter, this means that the next successor of Longxiao City and Qiyuan City is likely to merge the two into one, which is equivalent to an imbalance in the balance of power of the ten major territories. ”

Tails looked at the female archduke sincerely: "And Qiyuan City is not strong enough to ignore or even suppress these objections - neither the vassals, nor the grand dukes, nor even the king, will allow you to marry." ”

Listening to the prince's words, Thelma wandered for a moment.

"So, an outsider's marriage proposal ......"

Thelma looked at Tails steadily, "They won't allow it, will they?" ”

"Really?"

Tails was very uncomfortable with her staring, so he quickly looked away.

"So, he spread the word that he came here to propose to me, to ......"

His Excellency Ian, who was stroking his stomach unhappily, snorted coldly: "Of course, it is to lure us into the Prince of Stars, who actually plays an important role in the politics of Longxiao City: if you want to win over the female archduke, you have to start with Tails Bright Star." ”

Yes?

Tails paused slightly.

The archduchess's face was unusually red.

After thinking about it, Tails's face darkened suddenly: "Is this how the rumors outside spread?"

"At least that's what the Black Sand Collars do, isn't it," Ian sighed, jokingly:

"What offer did the king give you in order to win you over? Twenty virgins?"

Tails automatically skipped Ian's joking tone, and his nerves tightened for a moment.

Gave it to me...... What conditions?

In front of him, there seemed to be the expression of King Chaman who was holding the victory in his hand and holding him firmly in the palm of his hand.

Tails resisted the urge to see Selma.

Damn it.

Don't take this seemingly frivolous boy lightly.

"Why," the second prince asked quietly, "do you want to say 'I'll give double'?"

Ian smiled incomprehensibly.

"I'd love to," Ian said, shaking his head as usual, and then added the next sentence slowly:

"If they give you a slap in the face. ”

The Star Prince snorted angrily in response.

But when he remembered Rumba's words, his heart was cold.

Not a slap in the face, though.

But it's about the same.

Thelma sighed softly, "Let's get back to business...... So the proposal is just an excuse?"

"It's not just an excuse – it says a lot," the smiling Ian looked understanding, smacked at Tails, and made exaggerated movements of his hands: "Look, as soon as the marriage of the Grand Duchess is mentioned, there is a bang, and the living Prince Tails appears." ”

Tails rubbed his forehead and exhaled in pain.

"How old are you, Ian?"

"Nineteen. Ian's smile was still the same: "Just a year older than the Grand Duke." ”

No, it's a senior four.

Tails added silently, glancing at Thelma in tacit understanding.

"Yes," said the prince lightly, "it feels like you've just turned nine." ”

"Ah, given your glorious deeds when you were seven or eight years old," Ian said as he knocked on the table, picked up a slice of butter bread again, and took a bite into his mouth, "Uh, that's a compliment." ”

Tails exhaled.

He gradually grasped the way to talk to His Excellency the Viscount of Windy City.

Tails turned his mind, recalling the conversation he had just had.

From the moment he met Selma, Ian deliberately showed his disdain for the female archduke, but unconsciously questioned the relationship between the female archduke and the vassals of Longxiao City, and probed her control over the territory.

He deliberately let the scene get out of control, but in fact, he looked at himself many times, perhaps to observe when he spoke out to persuade him, so as to detect his influence on the female archduke, and also knocked on the side of his actual relationship with the female archduke.

Twice, he twice openly and secretly tested the Black Sand Collar's attitude towards him, as well as his own attitude towards the Black Sand Collar.

Tails secretly raised his guard in his heart.

Ian Ronnie.

seems to be frivolous and uninhibited, a flamboyant and presumptuous aristocratic son.

In fact, the most heartfelt blades are hidden in seemingly joking words.

This "nasty ghost".

But for now, that's not a bad thing.

"Straight to the point," Tails cleared his throat, "Ian specifically sent me a message to propose to you. ”

Thelma's expression was still ugly, but she had begun to listen to Tails.

"But as I said, a marriage proposal was simply impossible—I suspect he had something else to do with me, and with you, in a credible and credible private setting, outside of normal diplomatic channels. ”

"So I went to Valhalla early. ”

Thelma looked at Ian with a look of suspicion.

Ian blinked and swallowed the buttered bread.

After the meeting, he told me that Qiyuan City was different from the other Northland Grand Dukes, they had a special position and special politics, and any assistance from the interior of Exeter would mean a lot to them. ”

Not only that, but he also constantly hinted to himself that as the future heir of Qiyuan City, he, like the Prince of the Stars, was a foreigner who was forced to live among the Northlanders.

Tails sighed: "And he also reminded me: he knows that it is not anyone else who will send troops to help Qiyuan City, but the conflict crisis between the vassals and the female archduke - starting with your marriage." ”

At that moment, Thelma's eyes locked on Ian.

"Trust me," His Excellency the Viscount snorted lightly, rather disapproving, "On the struggle between the Grand Duke and the vassals in the domain......"

His eyes sharpened: "In the whole of Exeter, I'm afraid there is no place that feels more deeply than the Ronnie family in Qiyuan City." ”

Thelma looked thoughtfully at Tails and then at Ian.

"So...... What the hell do you want?" the Grand Duchess calmed down, and she asked lightly.

Ian smiled.

"He has a proposal," Tails said as he looked at Selma with intently eyes:

"An unusual, solution to the crisis. ”

The Grand Duchess bit her lower lip and seemed more interested in the food on the table.

But Tails knew, she was thinking.

"That's why, we don't have time to waste any more on boring and redundant ceremonies and banquets," Ian said with a less cynical look on his face, and he became solemn, no longer paying attention to the food on the table, "It's a matter that we need to deliberate in secret, decide together, plan ahead – and it's time-sensitive." ”

"I apologize to you, Your Excellency, everything from the afternoon to the beginning of the week has been a superficial temptation," Ian gritted the words: "Please believe that Qiyuan City is not just a seeker who has come to beg for help, in fact, I have come with sincerity, and I am also aware of your current difficulties and difficulties, and Qiyuan City will use our methods to solve your troubles in exchange for your commitment and assistance." ”

"All I need is a little bit of your trust. ”

No one spoke.

The lights in the dining room flickered slightly, illuminating the shadows of the three people in a floating position.

It's like a boat drifting in the waves.

Thelma looked at Tails solemnly.

At that moment, somehow, Tails remembered the scene of their desperate escape in Longxiao City six years ago.

The Prince of the Stars nodded to her.

Finally, the Grand Duke turned her head, serious and calm.

"And how do you help me 'solve my problems'?"

Ian Ronnie from Prayer Far City grinned, and he bowed slightly to Tails.

The next second, he looked at Selma gently, spoke softly, and spat out the familiar words again:

"Propose. ”

(End of chapter)